Splashman

Reading about Yves Rossy’s unsuccessful attempt to use his jetpack to fly from Morocco to Spain last November brought to mind the voice of the Wizard of Oz, who was asking Rossy: “What do you have that Icarus didn’t have? I’ll tell you, my friend: a ridiculously large support staff.”

When “Jetman” jumped from a plane 6,500 feet above Tangier in Morocco for a flight expected to take a quarter of an hour, the turbulence and clouds drove him low enough that he let go the wing and parachuted into the sea. He was rescued uninjured by the Spanish Coast Guard, who also recovered the wing (which had its own parachute and float.) (The BBC video report is here.)

Didn’t Childhood’s End develop a human society so advanced that it became a popular pastime to rescue adventurers who stranded themselves in life-threatening predicaments?

[Thanks to David Klaus for the story.]